


The Line

by Miss_Mae



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, call him TJ, gosh I love crypto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29153004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Mae/pseuds/Miss_Mae
Summary: Where does Crypto end and Tae Joon Begin?
Relationships: Crypto | Park Tae Joon/Reader, Crypto | Park Tae Joon/You
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	The Line

Click. Click. Click.

You drift into a sleepy consciousness, body heavy. The mechanical clacks crescendo as you open your eyes to identify the disturbance. You smile gently. Crypto sits with his back to you, typing furiously. You try to make sense of the stream of code flowing down his monitors but give up after a few moments, he’ll tell you about it later. He takes a moment from his work to push the mess of thick, black hair out of his face. You make a soft noise of attention, urging the hacker to take a break. You’re sure he’s been awake for hours already.

Crypto makes a few more heavy clicks on his keyboard and swivels in his chair to face you. His chest is bare this morning, having discarded his chest plate late in the night, revealing the toned muscles he’s built in the games. You take time to admire how smooth his skin, gliding seamlessly from his abs to his chest, over his collar bone, down his round, tough shoulders, and over his growing biceps. Your eyes linger on his hands, the black metal prosthetics dull in the yellow light emitted from the single bulb lamp. You wish you could feel his hands without them, the calloused flesh that comes with being on the run.

You remember the night he told you about the prosthetics. Crypto was desperate, he needed to disappear. He found a man promising medical prosthetics for cheap with no names. The night went sour when officials came to bust the man for drug possession. Crypto slipped out with a bullet grazing. He said it was the first time he had been shot and the last time he felt scared. He designed the new prosthetics in two weeks. He spared you the details of the attachment process.

A thud pulled you from your daydream. Even barefoot, Crypto somehow made the quietest footsteps. He sat on the bed next to you, running his fingers over your cheek, holding your face gently.

“What’s wrong?” He prompted quietly.

You smiled at his deep, glasses framed eyes, grateful he had taken your advice to wear them occasionally. He looked tired, under eyes sagging, but his eyebrows always gave it away. Usually pointed and furrowed, they drooped when he needed rest. You reached up to touch his side, the skin soft as your fingertips slid over the muscle to rub his back. His posture melted at once, letting out a gentle exhale. He carried so much tension in his rigid posture, constantly prepared for the worse. 

“You should sleep, TJ,” you muttered back to him, eyes heavy still. 

He smiled crookedly at you, chuckling deeply. “It’s 3 pm, y/n. You should wake up.” 

The hacker bent down and smoothed your hair gently before placing a soft kiss on your head. You heard his footsteps retreat further into your shared apartment. You cursed yourself, springing from the soft sheets in a flurry of movement. You only had today and tomorrow with him. The next day he was would be gone on, taking part in the bloody christening of the newest site of the Apex Games. 

Worry ached in your heart as you remembered the last time he came back from a game, losing but escaping with his life after a long hospital stay. The ugly scar on his back was still red and fits of pain would take him from time to time. You hadn’t voiced your worry to him yet, you knew it wouldn’t change his mind. You just wanted him to be safe. 

You pulled on a set of comfortable clothes, hoping he would be in the mood to venture out of the apartment today. Your footsteps almost echoed in the quiet of the apartment as you pushed your way out of the bedroom and into the single space that occupied the kitchen, dining area, and living space. A small clothes washer and dryer sat in the closest corner. 

Crypto leaned against the kitchen cabinets on the opposite wall. white coffee cup in hand. He was dressed in a grey hoodie, hood pulled over his half-heartedly parted hair, forgoing his glasses. You stood in the doorway to admire him for a moment as he stared back at you curiously. The metal plating around his jaw shone dully as he parted his lips slightly to sip the steaming liquid. He told you it was impossible to remove them without breaking his jaw. You let your eyes wander down his neck to his chest. The long hood strings hung over some bright green Korean lettering you had never asked about. He had picked out a dark pair of jeans to match it. The soft fabric of the hoodie clung deliciously to his biceps as he set down the cup and crossed his arms. 

“What are you looking at,” he questioned in a thick accent, flicking his chin upwards. 

“Only the most handsome man in the world,” you retorted, closing the distance between the two of you. 

Crypto scoffed. A soft, breathy noise that only made you smile. He opened his arms, holding them out to embrace you as a sly smile crossed his lips. You accepted his offer graciously, melting against his sturdy body. The hoodie smelled freshly washed, but the scent of his deodorant was strong as you buried your face into his chest. Crypto kissed the top of your head, setting his hard chin on it. 

You let him hold you for a while, focusing on the rise and fall of his chest and the gentle rhythm of his heartbeat. When he had the chest plate on, you couldn’t feel things like this. The chest plate was cold, hard. He went without it in the beginning, preferring a low cut tank top and vest, but the game organizers gave him several outfits to wear with the heavy implication he was to wear them often. You pulled away from the hacker, kissing his full lips gently.

“We should go out today,” you stated simply. 

“Out? Like where?” Crypto shifted into a more defensive position, crossing his arms. You guessed he wasn’t really in the mood today, but you persisted. He had to get some sort of sunlight. You thought for a moment before exclaiming,   
“We could walk to that new arcade! I heard they have the newest fps VR experience on the news.” 

The hacker scoffed again, annoyed. “Why would I shoot fake people when I’ll be shooting real ones in a few days?” 

You backed off, obviously crossing a line in your excitement. His face had grown hard. Crypto didn’t like to be reminded of the games, of the killing. He was only in the games because he had to be. You knew it hurt him more inside than any bullet could to pull the trigger. You folded your arms too, withdrawing from the conversation. Crypto’s face softened as he reached out to touch you. 

“Hey, I’m sorry. Let’s go on a walk, though. Okay? We can get lunch and watch all of the people in the square.” 

You nodded, satisfied that he had agreed to go out. He could spend all day on his computer if you didn’t remind him to get up. 

A quarter-hour later, the two of you emerged into the bright light of Suotamo. The urban city’s population was booming this year. Your home with Crypto had been in a less than desirable location. While it was about a 20-minute walk from the edges of downtown, the area had long been regarded as impoverished. A gang had made its base here several years ago. Therefore, the city neglected the area. Trash flittered in the streets and the distant stench of sewage was always present. 

When Crypto had approached you about living with him, you had insisted he live with you instead. Your previous home had been in a quiet neighborhood, high in the sky. The outlaw had insisted it was too high profile. You eventually gave in, just happy to be with him while he was home and not participating in the games. His earnings had given you both a comfortable life. 

You walked side by side through the streets, your hand firmly in his, chatting together pleasantly in low voices. He kept his hood up, as always, as you moved about the city. Before long, the buildings rose higher and the streets grew busier as you entered the city. The two of you make your way to your shared favorite lunch spot. 

You enjoyed a nice meal together in the corner of the eating area. Crypto always sat against the wall, ever vigilant. You weren’t quite sure what overtook you at that moment. Was it frustration, longing, worry? You set down your drink a bit harder than you meant to, eliciting a startled look from Crypto. You put on a brave voice, 

“Do you have to go? To Olympus?”  
The hard set lines reappeared on Crypto’s face as he set his elbows on the small table, leaning in. 

“You know I have to,” he stated, staring into your eyes. 

You could see it there, the sadness. He didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to kill more people. 

“Then don’t,” you said defensively. “Where will you draw the line, TJ? You keep running and running, chasing down these people that always seem to slip up. Soon enough, you won’t be yourself anymore. You’ll just be Crypto.” 

“I’m close, y/n. Mila and I are close.” He spoke roughly, unblinking. 

You bit your lip, quickly losing the will to argue with him. He was stubborn. Crypto stood and you moved to stand as well, but he blocked you in the chair by standing in front of it. The hacker lowered himself to the ground, squatting to the side of you. He grabbed your hands gently as you faced him. A look of utter sadness spread across his face as he looked into your eyes. 

“Y/n. I,” his voice broke before he found it again. “I hate it. I hate running. I hate how my life is now. But I will find the truth. I will find it so we,” he gave a short laugh. “So I can be free. So we can move out of the slums and into a nice home. We will have a nice life together.” 

His sweet words drifted past your ears. Your voice quiet, “But what if you’re not you anymore? What if, in all this running and chasing, you lose yourself?” 

The hacker managed a small smile and stood, bending over to kiss your head one more time. 

“I know you won’t let that happen.”

**Author's Note:**

> A special thank you to @ryonello on Tumblr for creating the beautiful Crypto art that inspired his appearance in this fic. Please check out her work! -posted with permission on Tumblr


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